Game utilizing electric probe



g- 1, 1967 M. 1. GLASS ETAL. 3,333,846

GAME UTILIZING ELECTRIC PROBE Filed Feb. 2, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 am newA1. L w- ESTEADY 5m; 570m INVENTORS MARVINZGLA S5 GUNARS L/C/T/5 J'OHNO. SP/NE'LLQ WQ ATTORNEY g- 1, 1967 M. l. GLASS ETAL I 3,333,846

GAME UTILIZING ELECTRIC PROBE 2 Sheets-Sheet Z Filed Feb.

INVENTORS MA RV/N I. GLA 55 GU/VARS L/C/T/S ATTORNEY United StatesPatent 3,333,846 GAME UTILIZING ELECTRIC PROBE Marvin I. Glass, Chicago,Gunars Licitis, Lombard, and John 0. Spinello, Chicago, Ill., assignorsto Marvin Glass & Associates, Chicago, 11]., a partnership Filed Feb. 4,1965, Ser. No. 430,395 3 Claims. (Cl. 2731) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aboard game including a pair of electrically conductive plates mounted inparallel, spaced relation with the upper plate including openingsdefining positions of movement for an electrically conductive rod usedby the players. The rod conductive element is so mounted in its handlethat a portion thereof will appear through the top of the handle uponcontact of the conductive element with the bottom plate. An electricallypowered signal device is connected with the plates, so that an alarm issounded if a player contacts both plates with the rod.

This application relates generally to a game of skill, and isparticularly directed to a game involving a game board and a playingpiece to be inserted in sequence in suitable openings in the board butwithout touching the edges of the openings, the game providingindicating means which will give a signal if a player accidentallytouches such edges.

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a gamecomprising a pair of electrically conductive plates mounted in agenerally horizontal position, spaced apart and insulated from eachother. The upper plate has a relatively large number of sequentialopenings defining a path of movement for the players on the upper plate,the openings having various sizes and shapes. The player is providedwith a playing piece consisting basically of an elongated electricallyconductive member, which is to be inserted in the openings in the upperplate to touch the lower plate but without making contact with the upperplate, the playing piece having means for indicating to the otherplayers when the piece has actually touched the bottom plate. A signaldevice is connected with the plates and is responsive to electricalcontact between the plates to give a signal so that, if a playeraccidentally contacts both plates with his playing piece whileattempting to negotiate the path of movement, that fact will beimmediately apparent. The signal device is preferably so constitutedthat, once the signal is started, it will continue until canceled orshut off by a definite action on the part of the player. The game alsoincludes a plurality of markers which may be used to indicate the pointat which a player may have come to grief, and where he will have tostart when he has his next turn.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the game board;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation of a fragment of FIG- URE 1 with partsbroken away;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of one of the markers;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of certain mechanism within the game board,partly in section on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1, and with parts brokenaway;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the mechanism shown in FIGURE 4, takensubstantially on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4 with the parts in a differentposition;

FIGURE 6 is a fragment of FIGURE 4, with the parts in a differentposition; and

FIGURE 7 is a plan view partly in axial section, of one of the playingpieces.

In a game directed especially to the enjoyment of children it isbelieved desirable to accompany the game with a novel representation,preferably somewhat humorous in character, and in the present instance,the path of movement of the playing pieces defined by the openings inthe playing board depicts the wanderings of an individual in the desert,who finds his canteen has been drained by a bullet hole. As the hazardsof the imaginary trek become greater, the openings for the playing piecebecome smaller or more tortuous, so that it takes more skill to keepmoving toward the end of the trip than it does at the beginning. Thewater cooler is the reward for the player who first completes the entiretrip.

As seen particularly in FIGURES 1 and 2, the game includes a board 10composed of an electrically conducting upper sheet or plate 12, spacedfrom a lower electrically conducting sheet or plate 14, the sheets beingspaced apart by an outer rim of insulating material 16 to form asubstantially square shallow box-like structure. Sheet 12 carriespictorial representations of various objects which suggest adventureswhich could be experienced by a wanderer, such as the wrecked wagon 18,the empty canteen 20, the Indian 22 and the mirage 24.

The play is started in an opening 26 near the wagon 18, the playerhaving a playing piece 28 (FIGURE 7) with an elongated portion or rod 30of electrically conductive material, which is to be inserted in opening26 without touching the margins thereof, but deeply enough to touchlower plate 14. If the player is skillful enough to touch plate 14without touching the edges of opening 26, he may withdraw his game pieceand insert it in the next hole 32. If he is successful there he mayproceed to hole 34, and so on. When, in any hole, however, he isunfortunate enough to contact both bottom plate 14 and the edge of thehole at the same time, he will complete an electrical circuit including12 and 14, which will set off a signal, as will be described presently.

Succeeding holes are usually smaller than those near the starting point,and the size may vary from one location to another, the most difiicultopenings to negotiate being preferably in the vicinity of the mostformidable hazards. Thus the holes are smaller in the vicinity of theIndian 22. Again in the region of the mirage 24 a V- shaped slot 36takes the place of one of the holes, and must be passed by inserting theplaying piece and sliding it along the slot, but without touching themargins of the slot. Also in the vicinity of Cracked Cliff a long andjagged slot 38 must he traveled successfully. No player is likely to beskillful enough to travel the whole course without setting off thesignal, so the players are each provided with an animal skull 40 (FIGURE3) which is to be placed on the board at the point where contact wasmade, and where the player must resume travel after the other playershave each had a turn. A sinuous slot 42 is provided at Rattlesnake Pass,and small holes are found in the crossfire between two charactersengaged in a gun battle. Another jagged slot is found beneath the CrazyProspector who is in the act of dropping a rock on a passer-by. Othervariations will doubtless suggest themselves to those skilled in theart. At the end 'of the trail is a long straight slot 43 which may bedeceptively difiicult, because it looks so easy. The first player to getto the water cooler 44- wins the game.

FIGURE 7 shows one of the playing pieces 28, this unit comprising ahandle portion 46 in which above mentioned rod 30 is freely slidable. Aferrule 48 is fixed on one end of handle portion 46, providing aninternal space for a spring 50 compressed between the end of handle '46and an enlarged portion 52.on rod 30 within ferrule 48. In this mannerrod 30 is continuously forced toward the left in FIGURE 7, or generallydownwardly, in the usual position of the playing piece when in use. Rod30 preferably extends entirely through handle 46 to be substantiallyflush with the opposite end 54 of handle 46, so that when a playerpresses rod 30 downwardly against lower plate 14, rod 30 will be forcedaxially against the urging of spring 50 so as to project beyond the end54 of handle 46. It will then be obvious to the other players that theplayer has forced rod 30 into positive contact with lower plate 14, andis not cheating by failing to make contact with plate 14.

The signal mechanism is best shown in FIGURES 4, and 6. It may belocated anywhere between plates 14 and 16 provided only that it is outof the region beneath any of the holes 26 to 43, inclusive, in thepresent instance being in the region beneath Skull Valley, adjacent theright hand side of board and upwardly of the water cooler 44. A battery56 is inserted upwardly through an opening 58 in bottom plate 14, and isheld in position against wall 16 by a spring clip 60. Battery 56 has apositive terminal 62 engaged by a spring clip 64 in electrical contacttherewith and supported from insulating wall 16. A buzzer frame 66 isfixed in any suitable manner on the under side of upper plate 12, as byscrews 67, so as to be in electrical contact therewith and carries anelectro-magnet 68 in position to attract an armature 70 carried on aleaf spring 72 fixed in any suitable manner on a portion of frame 66.Armature 70 has a contact 74 engaged with a contact 76 on, but suitablyinsulated from frame 66. One terminal of magnet 68 is connected by alead 78 with spring clip 64. The other is connected by a lead 80 withcontact 76. Armature 70 is electrically connected with frame 66 andaccordingly with top plate 12. A spring clip 82 is supported inelectrical connection with lower plate 14 and in contact with thenegative terminal of battery 56, so that when the circuit is completedbetween plates 12 and 14 by contact of rod 30, a current will flow frombattery 56 through lead 78, magnet 68, lead 80, contacts 76 and 74, leafspring 72, frame 66, upper plate 12 and rod 30, to lower plate 14. Thecurrent continues to flow between lower plate 14 and battery 56 throughspring clip 82. The attraction of magnet 70 will open contacts 74 and76, so that armature 70 will be released, again making the contactwhereupon armature 70 will be again attracted, again opening thecontacts, and so on in the manner well-known in the ordinary buzzer.Contact of rod 30 is likely to be only momentary, and it is desirablethat the buzzer shall continue to operate after the slightest contact,even though the contact is promptly broken. For this purpose a tripswitch 88 is used, which is actuated by the first motion of armature 70.

Switch 88 comprises a block of insulating material 90 fixed to frame 66between it and armature 70. It has a bore 92 directed toward armature70, having a lip 94 and a diagonal or offset surface 96. Bore 92 ispreferably angular in cross section, and the lower side, as seen inFIGURES 4, 5 and 6, has a strip 98 thereon, of electrically conductivematerial, which is bent at its ends to prevent longitudinal displacementin block 90, and pressed in place by a spring strip 100. Strip 100 hasan offset portion 102, and is so shaped that it presses firmly against aportion of bore 92 immediately adjacent diagonal surface 96 againststrip 98 and against lip 94. In this condition it will be held againstlongitudinal movement by friction, but can be readily moved with littleforce. Strip 100 rests normally in or substantially in contact witharmature 70 so as to ,be shifted by movement there- Upon the firstmovement of armature 70 when energized as hereinbefore described, strip100 will be moved to the right in FIGURE 6 so that offset portion 102will slip off of the surface 92 onto diagonal surface 96, and by virtueof its resiliency, will wedge between it and a strip 104 forming apocket with surface 96 for the reception of portion 102. Strip 98, andtherefore spring strip 100, is connected by a lead 106 with top plate12, while strip 104 is connected by a lead 108 with bottom plate 14.Therefore, once strip has been shifted as described, the buzzer willcontinue to sound, even though rod 30 is promptly removed from contactwith upper plate 12, so that it is apparent that a contact has been madehowever brief.

The signal is stopped by a push button or re-set 110 fixed on a stem 112extending into game board 10 and pressed outwardly by a spring 114. Stem112 has a head 116 aligned with the end of strip 100 opposite armature70, so that pressure on re-set 110 will shift strip 100 toward the leftas seen in the figures, dislodging portion 102 from the pocket formed bystrip 104 and diagonal surface 96, and restoring it to its normalposition as shown in FIGURE 6. The electrical circuit is then broken andthe signal is silent until the next contact between plates 12 and 14.

Although variations are contemplated in the mode of playing the game,basically each player in turn takes one of the playing pieces 28, andstarts inserting it in hole 26. If he is successful in touching thebottom plate, as indicated by protrusion of rod 30 beyond the end 54 ofhandle 46, he may withdraw rod 30 and insert it in hole 32. Again if heis successful in avoiding contact, he may insert rod 30 in hole 34.Wherever contact is made, the signal will sound, and that player mustrelinquish his turn. He then places a marker 40 at the point where hemade contact, and waits until the other players have each had a turn,whereupon he has another turn, removes his marker, and inserts hisplaying piece in the next hole.

Each player will ordinarily advance to some extent with each turn, andeventually one of them will arrive at slot 43 to win the game.

Variations in the described structure and in the rules of play will alsodoubtless occur to those skilled in the art to make the game more orless difficult for adults, children, or very young children, as the casemay be. For example, the size of rod 30 relative to the size of theopenings in plate 12 may be varied to make the play easier or moredifficult as desired.

It will be seen that there is provided herein a novel game of skillwhich is effective to stimulate competition throughout the game throughthe use of progress indicating markers, and through the use of novel andamusing situations depicted on the game board. Although shown anddescribed with respect to a particular embodiment, it will be understoodthat modifications might be made without departing from the principlesof this invenw tion.

What is claimed is: r

1. A game comprising a game board including a pair of electricallyconductive plates mounted in parallel, spaced-apart relation, meansdefining a path of movement for the player on the upper one of saidplates and.

including sequentially arranged openings through said upper plate, anindicating means carried by said board and including an electricallypowered signal device, a playing piece in the form of an elongatedmember having a relatively movable, axially disposed rod of electricallyconductive material, a spring disposed in said memher to urge said rodoutwardly of said member at one end thereof, said member and rod beingconstructed so that pressure on the projecting end of said rod willcause the rod to be retracted within said member at said one end andprojected from said member at the other end, said plates and signaldevice being arranged in an electrical circuit so that contact of saidrod with both plates will actuate said signal device.

2. A game comprising a game board including a pair of electricallyconductive plates mounted in parallel, spaced-apart relation, meansdefining a path of movement for the player on the upper one of saidplates and including sequentially arranged openings through said upperplate, said openings having various size areas and shapes, an indicatingmeans carried by said board and including an electrically powered signaldevice, a playing piece in the form of an elongated member having arelatively movable, axially disposed rod of electrically conductivematerial, a spring disposed in said member to urge said rod outwardly ofsaid member at one end thereof, said member and rod being constructed sothat pressure on the projecting end of said rod will cause the rod to beretracted Within said member at said one end and projected from saidmember at the other end, said plates and signal device being arranged inan electrical circuit so that contact of said rod with both plates willclose the circuit and actuate said signal device, for continuousoperation, and means on said board for manual- ]y breaking theelectrical circuit to deactivate the signal device.

-3. A game comprising a game board including a pair of electricallyconductive plates mounted in parallel, spaced-apart and insulatedrelation, means defining a path of movement for the player on the upperone of said plates and including sequentially arranged openings throughsaid upper plate, said openings having various size areas and shapes, anindicating means carried by said board and including an electricallypowered buzzer including an electro-magnet and an armature, a battery,an electrical circuit including said battery, buzzer and conductiveplates, a playing piece in the form of an elongated member having arelatively movable, axially disposed rod of electrically conductivematerial, a spring disposed in said member to urge said rod outwardly ofsaid member at one end thereof, said member and rod being constructed sothat pressure on the projecting end of said rod will cause the rod to beretracted within said member at said one end and projected from saidmember at the other end, and switch means in said electrical circuitwhich is operative so that contact of said rod with both plates willactuate said buzzer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,521,500 9/1950 Braund 273-12,628,101 2/1953 Prentice 2731 2,808,263 10/1957 Goldfinger 27313,232,610 2/1966 Campbell 273-1 RICHARD C. P-INKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. BARRY SHAY, S. NATTER, Assistant Examiners.

1. A GAME COMPRISING A GAME BOARD INCLUDING A PAIR OF ELECTRICALLYCONDUCTIVE PLATES MOUNED IN PARALLEL, SPACED-APART RELATION, MEANSDEFINING A PATH OF MOVEMENT FOR THE PLAYER ON THE UPPER ONE OF SAIDPLATES AND INCLUDING SEQUENTIALLY ARRANGED OPENINGS THROUGH SAID UPPERPLATE, AN INDICATING MEANS CARRIED BY SAID BOARD AND INCLUDING ANELECTRICALLY POWERED SIGNAL DEVICE, A PLAYING PIECE IN THE FORM OF ANELONGATED MEMBER HAVING A RELATIVELY MOVABLE, AXIALLY DISPOSED ROD OFELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE MATERIAL, A SPRING DISPOSED IN SAID MEMBER TOURGE SAID ROD OUTWARDLY OF SAID MEMBER AT ONE END THEREOF, SAID MEMBERAND ROD BEING CONSTRUCTED SO THAT PRESSURE ON THE PROJECTING END OF SAIDROD WILL CAUSE THE ROD TO BE RETRACTED WITHIN SAID MEMBER AT SAID ONEEND AND PROJECTED FROM SAID MEMBER AT THE OTHER END, SAID PLATES ANDSIGNAL DEVICE BEING ARRANGED IN AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT SO THAT CONTACT OFSAID ROD WITH BOTH PLATES WILL ACTUATE SAID SIGNAL DEVICE.